Last January, spending was HUGE - Carroll, Suarez, Torres etc. totalled £225m. This season, barely anything was spent. The official figure aren't out yet, but I'd expect it to be significantly lower than ~80m, with none of the top teams spending significantly (I think Cahill may have been the most expensive addition). With the Financial Fair Play rules starting to come into force, and the terrible economic conditions, are clubs reigning in their spending to comply? Does this bode well for Arsenal with their policy of buying young and cheap and blooding youth into the first team? Had Chelsea & Liverpool spent and reinforced, Arsenal may have been left well behind in the quest for 4th. As it is, things are about as even as they were prior to the window, except Arsenal have a decent proportion of their injuries coming back into contention (having full-backs will be awesome!). Is the Football landscape changing to the benefit of Arsenal?
I heard on the radio last week that a number of English clubs have already been told that they will be barred from European competition unless they get their finances in order
I don't think the landscape is turning to benefit Arsenal, what is happening now is what should have happened 10+ years ago that would have prevented mass over spending by a number of clubs that threatened/are threatening their existence - for every Man City, Chelsea, PSG there are Portsmouths, Leeds and Southamptons. We may not be the most successful side in the world but we do things the right way and if the rules prevent rich kids with their toys buying success then I'll be happy regardless of whether we win trophies or not - one thing's for sure I can say with some security that I'll be able to watch my club playing in the top flight in 20 years time...
I couldn't agree more Grizzly The money that was wantonly poured into football by rich kids changed the landscape of the game with silly money being asked for and paid. It was definitely wrong that someone could simply come into the game and with the benefit of a huge chequebook, be able to buy the best players and almost all the trophies. Ronaldo as an £85m purchase was quite obscene. Tevez's salary along with those of the likes of Rooney is just blindly maddening. The blame for the continuation of this and slowness to address the problem lies with the sports authorities but then again how many sporting bodies do we know that do what can be described as a good job? I agree that we have gone about building a side quite the right way. What saddens and annoys me is how we have slipped from being able to not only challenge but beat the best. I would agree too that the likelihood that we would be playing top flight football in years to come is strong. I would be more comfortable if we were winning regularly.
I couldn't agree more Grizzly The money that was wantonly poured into football by rich kids changed the landscape of the game with silly money being asked for and paid. It was definitely wrong that someone could simply come into the game and with the benefit of a huge chequebook, be able to buy the best players and almost all the trophies. Ronaldo as an £85m purchase was quite obscene. Tevez's salary along with those of the likes of Rooney is just blindly maddening. The blame for the continuation of this and slowness to address the problem lies with the sports authorities but then again how many sporting bodies do we know that do what can be described as a good job? I agree that we have gone about building a side quite the right way and wish the same would apply to every club. Then we would have a level playing field. What saddens is the absence of such an environment and that which annoys me is how we have slipped from being able to not only challenge but beat the best. I would agree too that the likelihood that we would be playing top flight football in years to come is strong. I would be more comfortable if we were winning regularly.
RVB - unfortunately the powers of the game allowed the financial bullying to exist, Chelsea and Man City fans have had plenty to get excited about so we know that obscene invesntment works, sadly there are also Pompey and Leeds fans who have done nothing but continue to support their team and watched in horror as their very existence has been threatened - rich kids who buy these toys has no sense of responsibility for the role clubs play in communities or their history, no Pompey fan can become a Southampton fan if Pompey disappeared it's just not how things work in football. We were always going to enter a period of reduced success while the foreign money was waved around - that's not to say we haven't made mistakes because we have, but we are profitable and well placed for success when the rules come into force, unless the bully boys don't want level playing fields and contest the rules and their lawyers are better than EUFA's....
Good post It is this even-handed and objective approach that makes me enjoy our debates. There is no doubt that Wenger has sometimes been a little too conservative in applying our strategy, which overall I will defend with my last breath (as I think you can tell). I think in particular he misjudged the fans need for a trophy every few years. Now he has got himself into a position where the fans are upset and the market for players has tightened up. I am more forgiving than most here I know, but there are worse mistakes that could have been made, and at least the overall strategy is intact.
